Chapter 76 - ALL BUSINESS WILL GO BANKRUPT!!

"This is the full story of the incident."

After returning to the conference room once again with the laborists, I explained in detail what I had experienced in front of everyone. As soon as my explanation ended, the factory owners and Mayor Byers pointed at the laborists with triumphant expressions.

"Demon followers were hiding among the laborists and those followers suddenly revealed their true colors and attacked the Saint! Is there anything more to see? Those who ignored imperial law and ran wild are the root cause of this whole situation!!"

"What are you hesitating for? Isn't this a gathering of the Pantheon and Black Fortress? Punish them! Arrest them all and punish them on charges of heresy and crime!!"

At the voices of the factory owners, I saw the holy knights of the White Order standing behind Iomene subtly placing their hands on the swords at their waists.

"Holy Woman. What should we do?"

"There's sufficient justification to investigate."

The inquisitors of the Black Fortress too.

The priests of the Silent Order too.

The factory owners and other people belonging to the imperial family also had looks that were not at all kind towards the laborists.

Troublemakers.

Terrorists.

Moreover, they were even a group where demon followers were hiding.

There was no room at all to view them favorably.

"Saint. Do you agree too, Saint?"

Iomene and Almene. And the mages from the Magic Tower and Erpha silently staying in one corner also had unkind looks towards the laborists.

"Saint. Aren't they the ones who harmed you? What are you hesitating for?"

Mayor Byers was openly urging me to cut off their heads.

Karl Renaro and the laborists were looking only at me with tense faces.

They could defend themselves, but whatever they said, whatever reasons they gave, it was obvious it would become the ugly excuses of criminals.

So instead of them.

I opened my mouth, "Punishment, you say. On what charges?"

"They committed illegal acts and there were demon followers among them, so there are charges of heresy too."

"I understand demon followers came from among the factory owners too. Then shouldn't you all be investigated on charges of heresy as well?"

At my words, the happy expressions of the factory owners crumple uncomfortably.

"We are innocent. Moreover, didn't all the Mammon followers forcibly reveal their identities due to the pillar of light that burst from the Saint's body? It's as good as proof that we remaining ones are innocent."

"Then the laborists here are the same. You can consider there are no charges of heresy. Moreover, illegal acts."

I looked outside the conference room.

Although the holy knights of the Pantheon and inquisitors of the Black Fortress had calmed things down, the streets still looked unsettled due to the aftermath of the general strike I had incited.

"Isn't it illegal to ruin the lives of the majority of the city's citizens?"

The expressions of the factory owners changed unpleasantly.

Mayor Byers adjusted his tie and answered, "Saint. We are clearly operating businesses legally. We produced numerous magic metals and most of the empire's iron is produced here in Scrap Yard."

"In return for that, you pushed the economic situation of all the workers in the city to ruin, and as a result made Mammon followers flourish."

"...Saint. Your words are too much."

"Are they? Would you look at this once?"

I distributed the documents of Mammon followers' future plans confiscated by the White Order to the people gathered at the meeting.

"This is the content of how Mammon followers would have led you if I hadn't appeared. Take a look."

The factory owners reluctantly received the documents.

And before long.

"The Great Depression?!"

"We encourage endless arms races to fight laborists and make people anxious?"

"Long-term confrontation due to production of large-scale destructive magic… Does this make sense?"

They, too, showed reactions similar to the laborists.

After allowing them all to examine the documents sufficiently.

I opened my mouth once again, "Let's think about what the root cause of this situation might be."

I pointed outside the window of the conference room.

I pointed at both the splendid and neatly arranged streets where the factory owners lived and the slums beyond them.

"Creating an endless cycle of destruction by inciting the greed of capitalists and the lust for power of laborists opposing them. That was Mammon's plan. It probably started in Scrap Yard, but it would have affected the entire empire."

I looked at the factory owners and Mayor Byers.

"Do you know how the workers of Scrap Yard are living? Do you know how poor the conditions they are living in are? Do you know why laborists keep appearing endlessly even though you imprison them in camps again and again? It's because they are already living in hell."

I slowly.

Explained all the scenes I had seen.

3 and 5 year old children cleaning chimneys.

Workers coldly discarded the moment they were injured.

People throwing themselves into the river to commit suicide because they had nothing to eat and were starving.

I explained about people who couldn't receive proper treatment and couldn't live proper lives, becoming broken.

"I won't say the actions the laborists have committed until now were right. That's correct. They tried to blow up factories and assassinate businessmen. But the fundamental reason was because the system itself was broken."

"Are you defending the laborists now? Saint?" Mayor Byers asked with an incredulous face.

I shook my head.

"It's not defense, but asking you to understand their position. It's telling you to reflect on your mistakes that produced people who would rather pick up guns if they're going to die either way, being pushed to the limit."

The factory owners were looking at me with hardened expressions.

But I had no intention of stopping.

"The Mammon followers are all dead. That's fortunate at least. But if this current state continues, another Demon King will appear and swallow the pure resentment and souls bursting from their unhappy lives and grow their forces. Do you want something like this to happen again?"

"..."

"So I think it's time to think about how to make the people outside live well, rather than thinking about who to punish."

I explained my plan.

The purpose of establishing the Ministry of Employment and Labor and how it would operate in the future.

I also explained how the Order of Grace and Karma Company and the imperial family would run the Ministry of Labor.

"Exploitation of workers by capitalists must stop. The greed of capitalists must be restrained. Laborists are most suitable for that role. They will spread throughout the empire to investigate and prevent exploitation of workers by capitalists."

The factory owners immediately rebelled against my explanation.

"You're saying these terrorists will investigate businesses with power on their back?"

"They will clearly find fault with trivial things and hinder the growth of businesses!!"

"It's obvious how corrupt these madmen will become if they seize power! This is an absurd opinion!!"

I nodded.

"That's why the Ministry of Labor will be placed under strict surveillance by the Pantheon and imperial family. To check their rampage and degeneration. Also, priests of the Order of Grace will move together with civil servants of the Ministry of Labor. To treat those injured by industrial accidents. I will never let them form a force alone and monopolize all power."

But the factory owners still seemed unsatisfied.

"This is an outrage!! It's killing healthy businesses!!"

"Saint. It's very troubling when someone who doesn't know much about business comes out like this. If businesses are damaged, the imperial economy will clearly collapse!"

Seeing the factory owners and Mayor Byers rebelling to the end, my expression naturally crumpled too.

"If you're uncomfortable with the Ministry of Labor's activities, you simply shouldn't do things that can be found fault with in the first place. Please work on improving the treatment of workers. If a worker is injured by an industrial accident, the company must take responsibility. Workers have the right to negotiate with you. If there's a request to raise wages, you have an obligation to accept it within reason."

"If we do that, all businesses will go bankrupt!! Saint!!"

"The entire empire will collapse if we continue like this!! Will you leave demon followers and evil god worshippers to grow by sucking up the resentment of unhappy workers again? I'm really saying the bare minimum! Workers are people too! Shouldn't we at least let them live like humans!!"

When I raised my voice, the voices of the factory owners diminished for a moment.

"There should be no more employing children and teenagers under 19 who haven't become adults at cheap wages! They should receive education, not work! Also, work on providing at least minimal employee welfare! You must provide meals for workers to eat, and wages must also be raised to a level where they can maintain their lives!"

I held out my hand to the factory owners too.

"You don't want the forces of a Demon King to stir again by sucking up the resentment of unhappy workers, do you? Isn't experiencing it once enough? Workers are people just like you. Don't see them as parts, but see them as humans you must coexist with."

"..."

"Create quality jobs where people can make a living, not exploitation. It's impossible for me alone. I need you."

I hoped they would take my hand.

As the laborists did.

I hoped they would break their stubbornness and take my hand.

But that didn't happen.

The factory owners and Mayor Byers didn't even have a moment to think like the laborists.

"You're making an absurd claim, Saint."

Mayor Byers shook his head as if dumbfounded.

"I understand you say that because you don't know much about economics and business and are overflowing with compassion and sympathy, but economics and business are originally cold. If we repeatedly infringe on businesses' profits due to sympathy and compassion, there won't be any businesses that can run properly in the empire!!"

Mayor Byers didn't take my hand.

He and the factory owners stand up.

"We cannot accept the idea of making those criminals a state agency, and we absolutely cannot accept the idea of damaging businesses' profits on the pretext that Mammon followers appeared."

"..."

"It's presumptuous to say, but Saint. How about focusing only on areas you're good at? I carefully suggest."

At those words, Iomene, Almene, and Erpha's expressions turned grim.

"Mayor Byers. Your words seem a bit excessive."

"Princess. They're not excessive at all. The Saint just said he would shake the foundations of the imperial economy! He said he would hand over all the empire's businesses to those evil and twisted beings! He's trying to damage businesses under the pretext of improving workers' treatment and the appearance of Demon King followers!"

Erpha immediately refuted those words.

"The Saint's words have a point. Improving the treatment of workers must follow. Otherwise, it's obvious Demon King followers will stir again."

"What will happen if businesses crumble like dominoes while being swayed by those madmen? A world overflowing with unemployed people. A world where they can't even receive meager salaries! If such a world comes, won't there be much more resentment than now?"

Mayor Byers pounded his chest with a proud expression.

"It's true that workers' treatment is poor, but that's a necessary evil!! It's just an inevitable choice made to prevent the worst situation!! Maintaining businesses is much more important than improving workers' treatment!! Why don't you understand this!?"

Karl Renaro stood up, unable to hold back.

"You capitalist pig bastards…!"

"Don't open that ugly mouth here!! You disgusting rioters!! Trash who can only cause social unrest and incite using people's misfortunes as an excuse, how dare you open your mouths here!"

I waved my hand to calm Karl Renaro and the laborists.

At my action, they desperately suppressed their resentment and sat down again, but judging by their expressions, it wouldn't be strange if they pulled out Molotov cocktails from their pockets right away.

"We will maintain the current system, Saint. Improving workers' treatment. Yes, that's right. It's necessary. But businesses are too squeezed to improve treatment right now," Mayor Byers said while caressing his splendid and luxurious suit, which had probably sucked the blood of countless people.

"Someday when businesses' profit situations improve. Then workers' wages will surely rise too. Saint. Maintaining businesses is more important than anything. If we shake the foundations of the imperial economy, even greater misfortunes and resentments than now will pour out. Please understand that fact."

"Didn't you just see what future will come if your greed runs wild to the end? Are you saying you'll stubbornly stick to that path even knowing that?"

Mayor Byers shrugged his shoulders at those words.

"They're just plans forcibly made up by Mammon's followers to scare people. I'm not swayed by such things. If I were to be swayed by such things, I wouldn't have been able to run a business until now in the first place."

I thought wrong.

The laborists were not yet in a corrupted state.

They were not yet camp directors and heads of intelligence agencies. Dictators who ordered mass slaughter of workers for the sake of workers.

They were still people united by compassion and indignation for workers.

That was why they could decide to repent after seeing the image of their future selves.

But the factory owners were different.

They were already beings whose souls were corrupted.

Even if they saw their future.

Even if told that a situation like this would happen again.

Stubborn and hard-hearted beings who would never break their obstinacy.

I lowered my hand extended to the factory owners.

"Princesses. Can we stop here? I want to rest for a moment."

At my words, Almene looked at me regretfully and declared the end of the meeting.

The factory owners and Mayor Byers walked out of the conference room as if they had been waiting.

I just quietly watched them.

"It ends up like this after all, Saint. It ends up like this after all!!"

Karl Renaro raised his voice, unable to contain his resentment.

"I knew they would escape like that!! Those slippery bastards…! They won't change! Never!! It's impossible to fight and win against them while following laws and rules!! Because power and rules are ultimately on the side of capitalists!!"

"That's right. Power and rules are on the side of capitalists."

"What will you do now? Will you... will you leave the city's poor to suffer like this? Please tell me you have some plan."

A plan?

There was always a plan.

Just a moment ago, there was even a method to make all the factory owners and Mayor Byers my puppets with absolute hypnosis.

But I didn't do that.

I didn't want to solve it that way.

I wanted to show the laborists and this city's poor.

That the empire's laws and rules were still on their side.

That the empire was not yet as rotten as they thought.

I wanted to show that this world was still a place worth living in.

At Renaro's question asking if I had a plan, I immediately got up from my seat and approached Erpha.

"Erpha. Can you make a magic communication call?"

"Of course, Amael. Who should I call?"

Power and rules were on the side of capitalists.

That was truly correct.

Mayor Byers probably came out so shamelessly because he knew that very well too.

But they knew one thing and didn't know two.

That the empire's biggest capitalist was on my side.

"Connect me to Jonathan Karma."

If we couldn’t beat them with laws and rules.

We just had to beat them with capital.